Reversible control for hot and cold air in furnaces



Dec. 20, 1932. CARDER 1,891,796-

REVERSIBLE CONTROL FOR HOT AND COLD AIR IN FURNACES Filed April 30, 1951 s Sheets-Sheet 1 1 1' 5/ 42 J- fie z .1 i g I fi iiiii 9 /.5' A9 E & J .11 g I 20 a w 1 f A 2 [flue/125: flZberf/fl Carder.

Dec. 20, 1932. A, ARDER 1,891,796

REVERSIBLE CONTROL FOR HOT ANDIGOLD AIR IN FURNACES Filed April 30, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lm/enbu:

Albqrf/YZ 6' Men i'atentecl Dec. 20, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" ALBERT M. CARDER, or NEWTON, IOWA, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF To MARY JANE CARDE-R, or NEWTON, IOWA REVERSIBLE CONTROL FQR HOT AND COLD AIR IN FURNACES Application filed April 30,

This invention relates to air circulating means employed in connection with heating units such as warm air furnaces and related devices, and has as an object the provision of improved means for circulating the air passing through such heating units.

A further object of the invention is to be found in the improved construction of air circulating means adaptable to warm air furnaces and the like, which improved construction permits of ready adaptation of the invention to conventional heater installations.

A further object of the invention'resides in the reversible and adjustable character of the air circulating means, whereby theadaptability of the improvement is enhanced and its functional advantage increased.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved air circulating means operable in conjunction with a warm air heater for either heating or cooling effect.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved air circulating means of the character described which is simple of manufacture and installation, readily accessible for adjustment, service'andrepair, efficient in operation, free from objectionable noise and vibration, and durable inuse.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a convenof my invention has been mounted for practical use. Figure 2 is a front elevation of a conventionalized warm air heater differing slightly in construction from the showing of Figure 1 whereon a modified form of the invention has been mounted for practical use. Figure 3 is a cross section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the indicated line 33 of Figure 1. Figure 4c is a vertical section through the elements shown in Figure 3 taken on the line 44: of said latter figure. Figure 5 is a cross section on the same scale as Figures 3 and 4 taken on the indicated line 5-5 of Figure 2. Figure 6 is another view of the 59 elements shown in Figure 5 taken at right tionalized warm air heater whereon one form 1931. Serial No. 533,913.

angles to the showing of the latter figure. Figure 7 is an isometric view, on a further enlarged scale, of the removable assembly illustrated in Figures 2, 5 and 6, the fan assembly being omitted. Figure 8 is an isometric view on the same scale as Figure 7 of the removable assembly illustrated in Figures 1,

3 and 1, the fan assembly being omitted. Figure 9 is'aconventionalized wiring diagram showing a preferred method of connecting the fan motors for operation.

In the construction of my improvement as shown, a warm air heater is conventionally represented in Figures 1 and 2 as comprising a heater 10 suitably arranged for operation with any desired fuel enclosed by and sealed into a warm airjacket 11 in a common and well known manner. From the dome or upper portion of the jacket 11,.pipes or conduits 12 extend to suitable discharge'openings in the rooms or apartments to be heated and similar pipes or conduits 13, preferably two in number, connect the I rooms and apartments to be heated with the lower portion of the jacket 11, so that, when'the heater 10 'is-7 operated, the warmer air withinthejacket 11 rises through and escapes from the pipes 12 into the rooms and apartments, beating them,

and cooler air from said rooms and apart ments is drawn through the pipes 13 and into the jacket 11 where it is heated sufficiently to continue the cycle of circulation. Air circulation initiated and maintained by thermal differences in the manner described is not highly efficient in a heating system., The 7 preferred type of the invention being particularly designed for use with heaters of the type wherein the cold air pipes'"13 are connected with the heater jacket 11 by means of elbows 14, as illustrated in Figure 1. As illustrated in the figures above noted, rectangular apertures of suitable size are formed in the pipes 13, one aperture for each of said pipes, the location of an aperture relative to its pipe being determined solely by convenience and accessibility, and closure members are provided for said apertures and arranged for removable and reversible mounting relative thereto. Each of the closure members comprises a cover plate 15, preferably of sheet metal, of a size suficient to overlap all four margins of its aperture and curved to conform to and lie closely against the outer surface of a pipe 13, and a block 16, of more rigid material, secured centrally of and curved to fit snugly against the concave side of the plate 15, said block 16 being of a size to just fill the aperture formed in the pipe 13. A gasket 17 of felt, cork, or similar material, is positioned against the projecting mar-gins of the plate 15 about the block 16, which gasket engages against the outer surface of the pipe 13 when the closure member is in place thereon and servesto adequately seal the opening in said pipe. Any suitable means may be employed to hold the closure member in place on the pipe 13, one such means being illustrated as comprising a groove formed by a suitably shaped strip of metal 18 adjacent the lower margin of the aperture and in which the lower margin of the plate 15 is received and a pivoted clip 19 carried by the pipe 13 in position to be swung into engaging and hold ing relation with the upper margin of said plate 15, said clip 19-being perhaps unnecessary, since the unbalanced weight of the devices carried'by the closure member is sufficient to hold the upper portion of said member in position when the lower portion thereof is held against displacement radially of the pipe. The closure member formed as above described is symmetrical about its transverse axis and hence may be mounted on a pipe 13 in either of two positions, thus being reversible relative to said pipe, and a handle 20 is fixed to the outer surface of the plate 15 to facilitate handling of the closure member. Fixed to and projecting radially inwardly from the inner surface of the block 16, a rigid bracket 21 provides a support for an electric motor 22 carrying a suitable fan 28 on its driven shaft. The connection between the motor 22 and bracket 21 may be had in any manner desired, but should preferably provide foradjustment of said motor in the axial plane of the pipe 13, to which end I illustrate a U-shaped bracket 24: carried by the motor housing and arranged to telescopically embrace the inner end of the bracket 21, a bolt 25 adjustably interconnecting said brackets.

In Figure 2 is illustrated a modified construction of warm air heater, similar in all essential respects to the showing of Figure 1 and having the elements 10, 11, 12 and 13 previously described, but differing from the showing of Figure 1 in that the cold air pipes 13 are connected with the jacket 11 by means of boots or boxes 14 instead of the elbows 1 1, which difference requires modification of the previously described invention to adapt it to the altered heater. While it would be possible to mount the closure plate and fan assembly in the pipes 13 of Figure 2 in the manner previously described, such an arrangement would have limited eiiiciency in that the angular construction of the boots 14 and their angular relation with the pipes 13 would not be conducive to smooth flow ,of air therethrough and the eddies set up by air currents therein would prove disadvantageous. The more efiicient arrangement involves mounting of the fan and closure plate assembly in a boot '14:, and modifying the assembly to minimize eddy currents as hereinafter described. As shown in Figures 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings, suitable apertures are formed in plane side portions of the boots 14 and closure members composed of elements 15, 16 and 17 ',.identical with the elements 15, 16 and 17 save for the curved construction of the latter and interrelated as are said latter elements, are mounted in closing relation with said apertures and suitably retained in such relation, a bracket strip 18 similar to and functioning in the same manner as the strip 18 providing a simple and convenient positioning element. A relatively short tubular element 26 is mounted on and spaced inwardly from the closure member 15., 16', 17 and so arranged as to position its axis in substantial alinement with the normal air flow through a boot 14', the bolt 27, brace 28 and nuts 29 providing a simple and adequate connection between the closure member and element 26 and affording means whereby the axis position of said element may be varied. Fixed to the inner surface of the tubular element 26 and projecting inwardly and radial ly therefrom a bracket 21, similar to the bracket 21, provides a mounting for the motor 22 carrying its fan 23, the connections between the fan motor and bracket 21 being identical with those previously described. A suitable handle 20 is formed on or fixed to the outer end of the bolt 27 to facilitate handling of the closure member and its attached elements. 7

The fan motors 22 may be operatively connected with a source of electrical energy in any manner suitable to a given installation, and may be arranged for either manual or automatic control, the latter being diagrammatically illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 9. In these latter figures an automatic control element 30 is shown conventionally, which control element may be either time or temperature operated, the motors 22 being connected in parallel through the element 30 and a line switch 31 with a power line 32. The element 80 may of course be dispensed with and the motors controlled directly by the line switch, the only essential being that the motors be connected and arranged for simul taneous operation.

In the practical operation of the improvcment, the elements being assembled, connected and arranged as shown in Figures 1 and 2, closing of the circuits to the motors 22 actu ates the fans 23, thereby establishing a positive flow of air downwardly through the pipes 13, through the jacket 11 about the heater 10, and outwardly through the pipes 12, thus insuring a circulation of warm air throughout the rooms and apartments to be heated and enhancing the efficiency of the heating plant. In hot weather, the positions of the fans may be reversed and they may be operated to draw warm air from the rooms and apartments through the jacket 11 for return to the rooms and apartments, which action, due to the usual location of the heating plant in a cellar or basement, has a pronounced cooling effect.

It is to be noted that my construction of closure members and fan mountings renders the invention almost if not entirely universally adaptable to warm air heater installations with minimum expense and effort, and the use of a fan element in each of the cold air pipes prevents back pressure or air lock in any part of the circulation system.

Since changes and modificationsin the specific form, construction and arrangement oiaperture and an electric fan mounted on said plate in operative relation within said conduit.

2. In a heating system having an air conduit, an aperture in a vertical wall of said conduit, a supporting step adjacent the lower mar in of said a erture a closure late su I ported by said step in marginally overlapping relation with said aperture and an elec tric fan mounted on said plate in operative relation within said conduit, the ofiset weight of said fan acting to position and hold said plate in closing relation with said aperture.

3. In a heating system having an air conduit, anaperture in a vertical wall of said conduit, .a channeled supporting step adjacent the lower margin of said aperture, a closure plate mounted with its lower margin in said step and positioned in marginally overlapping relation with said aperture, cushioning means between the overlapping portions of said plate and conduit, and an electric fan adjustably mounted on said plate in operative relation within said conduit, the oflset weight of said fan acting to posit-ion and hold said plate in closing relation with said aperture.

4:. In a. heating system having an air conduit, an aperture in a vertical wall of said conduit, a channeled supporting step adjacent the lower margin of said aperture, a closure plate mounted with its lower margin in said step and positioned in marginally overlapping relation with said aperture, an offset on the inner side of said plate arranged to engage within and substantially fill'said apersure, cushioning and sealing means between the overlapping portions of said plate and conduit, and an electric fan mounted on said plate in operative relation within said conduit, the oilset weight of said fan acting to position and hold said plate in closing relation with said aperture. l

5. In a heating system having an air conduit, an aperture in a vertical wall of said conduit, a channeled supporting step adjacent the lower margin of said aperture, a closure plate mounted with its lower margin in said step and positioned in marginally overlapping relation with said aperture, a relatively short, supplemental conduit adjustably secured to said plate for positioning within said first conduit, and an electric fan adjustably mounted in operative relation within said supplemental conduit, the offset weight of said supplemental conduit and fan acting to position and hold said plate in closing relation with said aperture.

In witness whereof I aflix my signature.

ALBERT M. CARDER. 

